Ellen Goes Abroad: January 6th

Yesterday when I woke up, I realized that I was alone in England without knowing anybody, so I kind of refused to leave my room all day. Well, no, that's a lie. I went to the bathroom twice and took a shower at night. But I never changed out of my pajamas, ate peanut butter sandwiches from the bread and peanut butter that I already had in my room, and talked to my American friends on Facebook. The general response that I got from them went something along the lines of, "What do you MEAN you're in England and you're just hiding in your room? How do you expect to make friends when you won't go outside?!" I realized that they had a point. I'm here, so I'd might as well live it up.

This morning, I woke up at around 10, got ready, and set out to explore the campus. As I crossed the parking lot to get from Hallifax College (The place where I'm living) to the main campus, I ran into my one friend who's here through the same program as me. I was instantly relieved. We exchanged phone numbers and added each other on Facebook, so now I can at least contact one other undergrad. I then walked around the campus, making myself get a little bit lost so that I'd be able to figure out how to get around.

Campus is huge! All of the buildings are large and modern. There's lakes and bridges and covered walkways and paths that go through academic buildings. Since it's exam week here, all of the students walking around me were stressing out a bit, but they all seemed friendly enough, which is good.

It said on my schedule that all of my classes this term are in Heslington West. As I followed the signs around to try and find Heslington Hall, I became slightly discouraged, wondering where this building could be. When I finally found Heslington Hall, I was stunned. It didn't look like the modern buildings. It was an old, beautiful building with a duck pond outside of it and a large tree sculpture garden. (When I got back to my room, I found out that Heslington Hall and Heslington West MIGHT be different places, but here's to hoping that it's the same thing!)

Tired of eating sandwiches but unable to cook anything "real," (since I don't have any cooking supplies), I bought a frozen chicken korma with rice and made it in the kitchen microwave. I'm no stranger to microwaving food, but seeing as how this was my first hot meal in a couple of days, it was very welcome. Plus, it's the first thing that I've "cooked" since I've been in England. Baby steps, I guess ;)